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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24536776">Comfort Crowd</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotCat37/pseuds/HotCat37'>HotCat37</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shameless (US)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Apollo makes noises like eghjkseghs, Basically the entire fic is Apollo and Ian being frenemies, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Panic Attack, ptsd probably, raccoon</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 08:40:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,008</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24536776</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotCat37/pseuds/HotCat37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>"No, no, stay back......" Actually touching Apollo is still a little bit outside of Ian's comfort zone, baby steps, okay? so he backs up when Apollo snarls in his direction.</p><p>The fat little fuck completely ignores his protests, swimming at a rather fast pace towards Ian while Franny tries chasing after him at a much slower pace.</p><p>"He's gonna eat Uncle Ian!" Franny laughs, because apparently a monster raccoon about to eat your uncle is funny.</p><p>Or: 5 times Ian thinks Mickey's pet raccoon is weird and the one time he doesn't care</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>150</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Comfort Crowd</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Mickey! Your raccoon's in our trash again!" Ian yells into the house, irritated and tired. Shouting for Mickey about Apollo has become routine by now, in this very moment Mickey's raccoon has his head practically buried in their trash can, his striped tail sticking out.</p><p>"Let 'im be! Saves the trash men the trouble of picking up our garbage." Ian rolls his eyes because yeah, that totally makes sense.</p><p>"Those people are doing their job, Mick! They get <em>paid </em>to pick up our garbage!" Ian sighs in defeat when Mickey doesn't answer, ignoring Ian and his very <em>valid </em>reason to complain.</p><p>Apollo glances back at him, with his small black eyes and dark circles. Ian can't decide if the fucker is cute or creepy, probably a mix of both. </p><p>Mickey finally does come strutting down the stairs at once, Ian feels a certain deja vu. This scenario is practically the same as when Ian and Mickey first met Apollo. Hopefully this one doesn't end with a dissapointed sigh from Mickey, though.</p><p>"If it bothers you that much, why don't you just pick 'im up yourself?" Mickey crosses his arms over his chest, making no attempt whatsoever to remove Apollo himself.</p><p>Ian glares at his husband but doesn't reply. He's sub-consciously rubbing over the scratches Apollo left on him yesterday, after Ian had tried to get his Pop Tart back. That's become a routine now too, whenever Ian eats Pop Tarts in the morning Apollo will take whatever opportunity he gets to steal them. As a result Mickey remembers to keep Apollo in his dog bench until Ian's finished with breakfast, but on work days he always seems to forget.</p><p>This is Ian's life now. Stuck with a raccoon that steals his breakfast and a husband that doesn't give a shit.</p><p>Mickey just doesn't get it. Doesn't get that Ian doesn't <em>like </em>raccoons, that they're aggressive and viscous animals. They're mean, okay? <em>Apollo </em>is mean.</p><p>Ian sends the smaller man a soft, pleading look that he knows Mickey won't be able to resist. Mickey's eyes as expected, do soften before he grunts and rolls his eyes.</p><p>"Alright, I'll get 'im for ya, you pussy." Mickey shoves past Ian and heads towards the garbage can.</p><p>Top tier affectionate nicknames, Ian thinks sarcastically.</p><p>"Thanks, sweetheart." Ian offers Mickey a bright smile. Mick always pretends he absolute hates Ian's pet names, but Ian never fails to notice how Mickey's cheeks darken whenever he uses them.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah..... Come here, lill buddy. You're gonna make Ian mad if you keep eating our trash." Mickey grabs a hold of the chubby raccoon, moving him so he's holding the animal in a way that you'd hold a baby.</p><p>Mickey says he always picks him up like that because Apollo will have an easier time wiggling himself free if Mickey holds him in any other position. Ian strongly suspects otherwise.</p><p>"Gonna put you to bed, aight?" If Ian would've told an outsider that Mickey Milkovich uses a softer, sweeter voice when talking to animals, he would've been declared insane on the spot. </p><p>Guess that's just one of the luxuries to being married to Mickey Milkovich. You get to see things no one else sees.</p><p>"Night, raccoon." Ian isn't quite to that level where he's calling Apollo by his name yet, but they've become at least <em>civil </em>with each other. As civil as you can get with a raccoon, that is.</p><p>Apollo glances over Mickey's shoulder, looks Ian right in the eye, and Ian swears to God, gay Jesus, he swears to fucking <em>everything </em>that the raccoon <em>winks </em>at him. </p><p>
  <b>
    <span class="u">
      <em>Winks!</em>
    </span>
  </b>
</p><p>"What the fuck....." He whispers to himself, standing in the doorway with his mouth agape in a way that only a person that saw a raccoon wink at them would look.</p><p>He's still standing there like a moron when Mickey returns. The gentle hand on his waist brings him back from la la land. </p><p>"Huh?" Ian blinks repeatedly, feeling as though his brain's been fried.</p><p>"I asked, are you havin' a stroke?" Mickey raises a single eyebrow at his husband.</p><p>"Ugh, no....." Ian huffs, playfully shoving at Mickey's shoulder.</p><p>"Then what're you standin' around for? You looked like a fish out of the water." Mickey throws an arm over Ian's shoulders, leading him back upstairs.</p><p>"Apollo fucking winked at me." Ian breaks it to him, sparing a suspicious glance at Apollo's cage when they pass by.</p><p>"No." Is all Mickey has to say.</p><p>"Yes!" Ian protests.</p><p>"Raccoons don't wink, Ian." Mickey laughs at him, like it's the funniest shit in the world and not incredibly disturbing.</p><p>"Apollo does." Ian pouts and feels ridiculed, even when he wraps an arm around Mickey's waist so they're practically side-hugging each other.</p><p>"Don't you think you're just seein' shit? That Apollo's gotten a little into your head?" Mickey prompts, Ian and Apollo's rivalry a constant source of amusement for him.</p><p>"No, I swear to God, Mickey he winked at me......" Ian grumbles when they reach the bedroom, letting go of Mickey and starting to strip down to his boxers.</p><p>He hears the soft thud of Mickey flopping down onto the bed.</p><p>"Maybe he winked because he knows what's 'bout to happen......" Mickey suddenly murmurs.</p><p>Ian turns around, a little confused. It clicks like a key in a lock when Ian sees Mickey's parted legs, suggestive and inviting. He grins and doesn't hesitate on practically <em>leaping </em>onto the bed in favor of hovering over Mickey's body.</p><p>Ian briefly stops to think about how Apollo's winking is the main reason he's about to get laid tonight. </p><p>Yeah, that raccoon is fucking weird.</p><p> </p><p>Mickey's got that look in his eyes again. The sad one. They're hanging in the backyard, because it's hot as balls and Franny and Liam want to go into the pool. While Ian's holding Franny up in the water, Mickey sits in a lawn chair a few feet away.</p><p>He's smoking, and even though most people probably wouldn't think much of it, Ian can just <em>tell</em> Mickey's feeling off right now. He was fine before, when he helped blowing air into Franny's floaties, or when he caught Liam before he slipped and fell on a muddy patch of grass. </p><p>But now he's sad again and Ian doesn't know why. It's been a while since he last had <em>the </em>look in his eyes, not since they got Apollo and Mickey got a raise at work.</p><p>"Uncle Ian! Look, look, I'm doing it!" Franny excitedly yells, floating around in the pool and kicking her legs out without Ian holding her up.</p><p>Where Mickey would tell her that she's only staying afloat because of the floaties, Ian tells her she's doing a great job and that mommy would be impressed.</p><p>"When's mommy gonna come swim with us?" Franny curiously asks.</p><p>Ian sees Liam wince from where he's perched up on the pool's edge. He knows too much for his age. Poor fella.</p><p>"Mommy and Sandy are just taking a break inside. They'll be back in a few." Ian promises her, trying to appear nonchalant and reassuring. </p><p>Franny seems to accept it, as she's already forgotten about it within the next second. Ian's not about to tell a 4-year old what Sandy and Debbie are really up to when they say they're taking a 'break'. He's about to ask Liam to watch Franny so he can go talk to Mickey when Liam suddenly points at something behind Ian.</p><p>"Apollo's out." The young Gallagher simply informs. </p><p>Ian noisily cranks his head around to see none other than Mickey's fat raccoon walking into the yard. His head is held up high, as if he's expecting the humans to bow before him. Like Apollo's the fucking king of the backyard.</p><p>"Jesus Christ.....wasn't he in his bench?" Ian groans at the sight of the arrogant animal.</p><p>Carl probably let him out, just to mess with Ian. Lip and Ian's distaste for raccoons is a well-known thing in this household.</p><p>"Raccoon!" Franny squeals with delight, pronouncing the word raccoon in a rather off way.</p><p>Apollo doesn't spare her a second glance. He climbs the steps to the pool and stands on the edge beside Liam. Apollo seems to like Liam, Liam doesn't mind Apollo in return.</p><p>Ah, scrap that. Apollo seems to at least tolerate <em>everyone </em>but Ian. Little shit thinks it's funny when Ian yells at him to get out of the trash or when he chases after him for a stolen Pop Tart.</p><p>Franny hastily splashes over to the chubby fuck, eager to pet him. Ian used to be scared that Apollo would scratch or bite Franny if she hugged or played with him too wildly, but another weird thing about Mickey's raccoon is that he's surprisingly tolerant with children. He merely gives a little warning growl whenever Franny hugs too tight or when she pulls at his tail. </p><p>He's less patient with Ian, however, for whatever reason.</p><p>"Apollo, Apollo!" Franny cheers, tugging at Apollo's round ears.</p><p>He lets out a little hiss, swats at Franny's side with his fluffy tail.</p><p>Liam gently arranges Franny's little hands so that they're petting Apollo's cheeks instead.</p><p>"Apollo doesn't like it when you pull at his ears." Liam reminds her in a brotherly way.</p><p>"Oh, right! Sowwy, Apollo!" She giggles when Apollo leans forwards and sniffs at her wet hair.</p><p>Fuck, okay, it's cute, Ian admits. Adorable even, watching his little sister's kid play with Mickey's mean raccoon. Visually, raccoons are cute, sure, but the cuteness only lasts for a few more seconds before Apollo does something that throws Ian off again.</p><p>He hops into the water with an impressive splash, landing flat on his stomach. Liam and Franny laugh and giggle as if it's a hilarious sight, but Ian's eyes widen in horror when Apollo starts insistently paddling towards him.</p><p>"No, <em>no,</em> stay back......" Actually touching Apollo is still a little bit outside of Ian's comfort zone, baby steps, okay? so he backs up when Apollo snarls in his direction.</p><p class="">The fat little fuck completely ignores his protests, swimming at a rather fast pace towards Ian while Franny tries chasing after him at a much slower pace.</p><p class="">"He's gonna eat Uncle Ian!" Franny laughs, because apparently a monster raccoon about to eat your uncle is <em>funny.</em></p><p class="">The raccoon makes a fucking "eghskekgsge" sound as he nears, Ian swears to God Apollo's out to kill him.</p><p>And he feels kinda childish for it, he's a grown ass man, damn it, but he half-heartedly screams when he hits the pool's edge and Apollo almost reaches him. It's not loud enough to get any noise complaints, but it's loud enough for Mickey to snap out of whatever trance he was previously in, his head raising in alarm at Ian's scream.</p><p>He rushes over the pool and visibly relaxes when he sees there's no real emergency. </p><p>"Get him away from me!" Ian climbs onto the edge just in time to avoid Apollo's sharp nails clawing at him.</p><p>"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it......." Mickey huffs, toeing off his flip-flops and crawling over the pool's edge.</p><p>The pool isn't filled to the brink today, so Mickey can still stand in the water. Ian knows about Mickey not being able to swim, not very well, at least, so he made sure to fill the pool with enough water so it reaches your waist but not enough to lose your footing.</p><p>"Man, you're a real good swimmer, aren't you?" Mickey watches with delight and slight pride as Apollo starts paddling towards him instead of Ian. Apollo reaches him and begins climbing onto his shoulder, leaving rather painful-looking scratches on Mickey's arm as he balances himself. Mickey doesn't even flinch. </p><p>Ian watches as Mickey's previous blank, sad look gets replaced with something happier. That joyful spark is back in his eyes, Ian can't help but smile softly at it. Sure, he doesn't like Apollo, but he can't deny the fact that the little raccoon makes Mickey happy. </p><p>"Ay, ay! Watch it, little Gallagher." Mickey stumbles a bit when Franny starts climbing onto his back in an attempt to get to Apollo.</p><p>Apollo shifts to Mickey's head instead, tail still out of Franny's reach. Ian chuckles at the sight and jumps back into the pool. He pries Franny's arms loose from Mickey's neck and puts her down on the edge.</p><p>"You wanna go inside and have some strawberry-apple juice?" Ian suggests, smiling as Franny's face lights up with joy.</p><p>"Yeah!" She nods energetically.</p><p>"I'll go with her." Liam offers, swinging his skinny legs over the pool's edge and landing on the grass with a thud.</p><p>Ian sends his little brother a thankful look before turning back to Mickey. Apollo takes a dive into the water, jumping from Mickey's head. Mickey snickers as Apollo roughly shakes his head and shakes a few water droplets out of his face.</p><p>"You good?" Ian wraps an arm around the back of Mickey's thighs, knowing Mickey secretly likes it when Ian holds him up in the water.</p><p>"Yeah." Mickey smiles, in earnest, up at his husband. It sounds a little strange, but to Ian it kinda looks as though the spark in Mickey's eyes grows after Ian's leaned down to kiss him.</p><p>It's a bit of a ridicilous thought, but Ian feels overjoyed whenever he notices that he's making Mickey happy. Of course he does, Mickey wouldn't have married him if Ian didn't make him happy. It still just takes Ian's breath away, that Mickey's finally able to just love him openly and freely, the fears and haunting memories from his past not in the way anymore.</p><p>They're hugging in the water, completely relaxed and lazy. Ian's arms stiffen when Apollo starts paddling back towards them, but he doesn't let go of Mickey. </p><p>"Hey!" Mickey grins when Apollo playfully bites at the hand he extends towards the raccoon. </p><p>"He's gonna bite your fingers off." Ian dramatically pipes up.</p><p>"Nah, don't think he will....." Mickey remains unbothered until Apollo starts chewing a little too hard and he winces in pain.</p><p>"Hey......" Ian, with a shaking hand because <em>raccoon, </em>pulls a little at the fur on Apollo's neck just enough to make him release Mickey's fingers.</p><p>"My knight in shining armor. Savin' me from the beast." Mickey smirks up at him, tugs lightly at the longer strands of hair at the back of Ian's neck.</p><p>"That raccoon didn't harm you too much, did he, baby?" Ian coos back, knowing they're in that playful mood where he can say practically anything. </p><p>"Hmm....might need to get a body check, just in case......" Mickey whispers, very subtly staring at Ian's lips instead of his eyes.</p><p>"Good thing that's my specialty." Ian has a smirk of his own as he leans down for a kiss.</p><p>But then there's water in his face from the wild way Apollo is splashing over to them. Once-a-fucking-gain. </p><p>He really doesn't know how to mind his own business.</p><p>"Cockblock......" Ian bitterly murmurs as Apollo makes himself comfortable on Mickey's chest.</p><p>Apollo merely looks at him with his dark eyes and curls his lip a little, as if daring Ian to make a move. </p><p>Fucking weird-ass animal.</p><p> </p><p>Mickey fucking regrets on agreeing to hold a Gallagher-styled party. It'd been Carl's idea, he'd claimed he missed the thrill of having badass house parties the whole fucking neighborhood would attend. Sandy had agreed enthusiastically, wanting to see what a  real Gallagher party was like.</p><p>Tami and Lip were going out with Fred and Franny for the night, so they didn't have to worry about the kids. Liam's at a friend's house.</p><p>Got no reason to say no to a house party, right?</p><p>Except Mickey has completely forgotten about the part where Gallagher parties are louder than thunder. It never used to bother him that much, all the loud noises. But nowadays Mickey even struggles to not lose his shit during breakfasts. When every fucking family member is at the table doing different things and not shutting the fuck up. </p><p>Mickey feels like a pussy for it, but an incredible amount of noise all at once is starting to make him feel like back when he got locked inside a small closet along with a hidden stereo that was blasting off some punk metal song at full volume. </p><p>He'd been 8, Colin and Iggy thought it would be funny. Mickey had even completely forgotten about the memory until this very moment, when there's loud music and screaming all over the place.</p><p>Kevin and V are having a dance-off with another drunk couple that thinks they've got moves. Neither parties do, if Mickey's being honest, but Kev and V are still a little bit better at the whole drunken dancing thing. </p><p>Sandy's doing shots in the kitchen, surrounded by a bunch of people Mickey's never even seen before. Debbie is half-passed out, plastered against Sandy's side while she keeps a secure arm around her.</p><p>Carl is God knows where, probably cooking some meth upstairs. Whatever. Ian is....shit, uh, where is Ian? Mickey squints his eyes and glances around, feeling rather dizzy as the room seems to spin around him.</p><p>He spots Ian, calmly talking to a few neighbors. His red plastic cup is filled with what appears to be cola. Okay, good, he's doing fine. Ian is fine, Mickey is fine, Apollo is-</p><p>
  <em>FUCK<br/>
</em>
</p><p>Apollo. </p><p>Mickey looks around for Apollo's dog bench before realizing he'd moved it upstairs in Debbie's room, so that the drunken party-goers wouldn't get their hands on his raccoon. </p><p>He rushes upstairs, pushes his way past the seemingly never-ending crowd. Mickey gets to the room he'd locked, and in a panic realizes that it's suddenly <em>not </em>locked and there's a couple of teenagers making out on the bed. Apollo's cage is wide open, no raccoon in sight.</p><p>Mickey looks, Mickey <em>panics.</em></p><p>His pet raccoon is somewhere out here in a crowd full of people, possibly being stepped on. Goddamn it, Mickey should've known better. Get him an award for worst fucking pet owner already.</p><p>"Ay! You kids seen a raccoon around here?" Mickey yells above the music, making the teens jump apart and hastily crawl off the bed.</p><p>It's two girls. One has her hair up in a neat bun and the other is freckled and has nerdy-looking braces. </p><p>"U-uh....." The freckled one stutters out.</p><p>Mickey snaps his fingers impatiently.</p><p>"Yo, brace-face, I don't have all fuckin' day, you seen it or not?" He snaps.</p><p>"I think I saw something brown running out of the room when we got here, yeah....." The one with the bun answer instead of her girlfriend.</p><p>Again, <b>fuck.</b></p><p>Mickey turns right the fuck around and runs downstairs. His mind is racing with every possible scenario in which his poor Apollo could be getting hurt. He spots Ian again and tugs at his husband's arm. He's a bit tipsy, and swaying, so Ian has to steady him as to not fall over.</p><p>"Mick? What's wrong?" Ian notices the panic on Mickey's face immediately. </p><p>"I don't-<em>fuck,</em> I can't find Apollo! I should've never left him alone in there, Jesus Christ......" Mickey runs a frantic hand through his hair while Ian gulps.</p><p>"Okay, just calm down, alright? I'll text Carl, tell him to send everyone away since he's the host. We're gonna find him, Mickey." Mickey knows Ian's trying to be reassuring, but the loud fucking music just makes his words sound muffled and the room just won't stop spinning <em>and so much noise.</em></p><p>Mickey suddenly feels like his throat is closing up, like he can't properly breath anymore. Ian's gentle hands reach out for him but Mickey brushes him off, every nerve in his body screaming for him to get the fuck out of here. </p><p>He runs through the backdoor.</p><p>Ian immediately texts Carl, explaining the situation as he excuses himself from his neighbors. His current mission is to find Apollo. As desperately as he wants to just go after Mickey and hold him in his arms, he know Mickey won't be able to calm down until Apollo is safe and sound. </p><p>Shit. Ian hadn't expected <em>this </em>many people to show up. He looks around the living room, sees Kev and V.</p><p>"Hey, have you guys seen Apollo anywhere?" He rushes the words out of his mouth, feeling a little panicked himself.</p><p>"You mean the raccoon?" Kev's face goes blank, clearly not completely having it.</p><p>"Yes, yes, the fucking raccoon. You seen 'im?" Ian glances around the house as he speaks. </p><p>"No, honey, I haven't. What's going on?" Veronica seems to notice his discomfort and watches him with concern.</p><p>"Mickey's kinda....I dunno, something's wrong, and it was fucking stupid of us to leave Apollo on his own. We gotta-we <em>need </em>to find him. There's too many people around......." Ian forces himself to stay calm, for both Mickey and Apollo's sake.</p><p>"I've got it." A determined look spreads across Veronica's face as she suddenly goes to stand on top of the couch.</p><p>"EVERYBODY! GET YO ASSES OUTTA HERE, PARTY'S OVER!" Veronica yells, loud enough for everyone to hear. </p><p>Some people protest, some people leave. But a good chunk of the crowd is already starting to disappear, with the people upstairs leaving through the front door. Carl must've gotten his text, thank God. Once the noise has decreased by at least 70%, and the stereo's been turned off, Ian gives instructions to the remaining people to search for Apollo. </p><p>He just hopes the little fucker didn't bail, or worse.......</p><p>Due to the now quieter house, Ian manages to hear rustling on the porch. His heart's beating in his chest like a blood drum as he goes to look.</p><p>
  <em>Please, please, please be Apollo.</em>
</p><p>Ian nearly sobs in relief when he sees that familiar striped tail sticking out of the empty garbage can. It's fine. Everything's fine. Apollo's just looking for some food. He's alright.</p><p>This time Ian doesn't hesitate on picking the chubby animal up. Apollo lets out a little growl in protest, even bites at Ian's arms, but Ian's hold is persistent. </p><p>He walks around the house with Apollo still in his arms, trying to force his rapidly beating heart to calm down along the way.</p><p>Ian spots Mickey's shaking form sitting behind the pool. He's curled in on himself, head buried between his knees, fingers clawing at his hair. </p><p>"Mickey......" Ian softly calls out to him.</p><p>Mickey looks up with teary, blue eyes. He looks about as shaken up as he did a few weeks ago, when he'd woken up at about 2 AM from a nightmare about....well, you know about who. </p><p>"Holy fuck....." A quiet hiccup escapes Mickey's throat as he shoots forwards and cradles Apollo tightly to his chest.</p><p>Apollo makes a rumbling noise, rather confused about the situation. Mickey cries into his soft fur, whispering apologies and profanities all at once.</p><p>"I'm so fuckin' sorry..... I'll never leave you alone like that again..... God, I'm so fuckin' stupid...."</p><p>Ian wraps his arms protectively around Mickey's trembling body, sort of squashing Apollo between the two of them but not in a painful way. Mickey clings to Ian with one arm around his back, the other still holding Apollo close. </p><p>Apollo licks Mickey's cheek, bites a little bit too. It's minutes later that Mickey manages to calm down enough to pull away, wiping at his wet, flushed cheeks.</p><p>"Agh, fuck...... I really am a shitty pet owner, huh?" Mickey lets out a short, humorless chuckle.</p><p>Ian frowns down at him.</p><p>"You're not a shitty pet owner, Mick. If anything, you're doing pretty damn good for someone who's never owned a pet before." Ian points out.</p><p>"I left my raccoon upstairs in a dog bench during a wild-ass house party." Mickey tiredly contradicts.</p><p>"Well, okay, maybe not the <em>best </em>idea, but at least you locked the door. I mean, how were you supposed to know that a bunch of teenage lesbians were gonna break into the room?" Ian runs a hand through Mickey's hair in what he hopes is a soothing motion.</p><p>"Besides, we're all kinda responsible for Apollo. This isn't just your fault, Mickey. I don't <em>like </em>the little fucker, but I don't want anything happening to him either......." Ian watches Apollo look back and quietly hiss at him with a scrunched up nose.</p><p>Damn, Ian literally just said that he cares about Apollo and the fucker <em>hisses </em>at him. Dumb-ass raccoons.......</p><p>Mickey still doesn't look quite convinced, staring down at his feet with a guilty expression. Ian gently lifts his chin.</p><p>"And you're not stupid, okay? You never make the same mistake twice........ We're gonna look out better for him from now on." </p><p>"Yeah.....yeah, okay."</p><p>They start walking back towards the house, finger intertwined. Apollo's still trapped against Mickey's chest, but he's stopped biting by now. </p><p>Ian sends him a glance, Apollo sniffs at him in return.</p><p>.......<em>weird.</em></p><p> </p><p>Ian's shift ends early, which means Mickey's not home yet. Ian's already got it all planned out. He's gonna make burgers and fries, swat Carl's hand away when he tries stealing one. Maybe help Liam with his homework, which, if Ian's being honest, is more of a fantasy than anything else. Kid's a brainiac. </p><p>With those plans in mind, Ian unlocks the front door when he feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. </p><p>Mick💘: Ay, I'm gonna do some overtime fr extra cash. Can u walk Apollo when u get home?</p><p>Me: Eww can't Sandy walk him?</p><p>Mick💘: She's fucked off to somewhere for the day. Don't be a coward</p><p>Me: Ugh</p><p>Mick💘: 3 rounds of sex tonite if you do</p><p>That's an offer Ian can't bring himself to refuse</p><p>Me: Okay</p><p>Mick💘: 👍</p><p>With a scrunched up nose, Ian puts his phone away and walks inside. </p><p>"Hey." He greets Liam and Carl, who are playing Mortal Kombat on the couch.</p><p>"Yo." Carl acknowledges him while Liam is too caught up in trying to beat Carl's ass at the game.</p><p>"Where's Debbie and Franny?" Ian notices that they aren't in the kitchen, looking at Franny's picture books like they usually do on a Tuesday night.</p><p>"Franny wanted to check out that new playground, Debbie couldn't say no." Liam answers flatly. Tragic, not being able to say no to your kid.</p><p>Ian scoffs, because now he can't ask Debbie to walk Apollo either. He glances at the dog bench. Oddly enough, Apollo is in there this time, sleeping. Ian's gotten home countless times to the sight of Liam or Debbie chasing Apollo around the house after he's escaped from his bench. </p><p>Fucker needs to go on a walk at least once day, according to Mickey. Preferably at night, because Apollo hates the sun for some reason, and because there's less chance the cops will see you walking around with an illegal pet raccoon in the darkness of the night.</p><p>Not like the exercise does much on Apollo's weight, anyways. </p><p>Ian picks up the red walking harness originally meant for overweight cats and promptly realizes that he just fat-shamed a raccoon. If he'd told teenage Ian that in the future he'd be married to Mickey and had to live with a chubby, mean raccoon, his past self would've most certainly ran for the hills.</p><p>Ian doesn't blame himself for that, really.</p><p>"You gonna walk 'im?" Carl looks completely in shock when he spots Ian walking towards Apollo's cage.</p><p>"Yeah. Promised Mickey I'd do it." Ian shrugs, hoping Carl wouldn't ask <em>why </em>he'd agreed to something so outrageous. </p><p>"I could walk him." He offers. Ian knows how much Carl's totally smitten by Apollo, but he doesn't really want Carl walking around this late with the potential to get arrested for walking a raccoon. </p><p>He's just gonna have to man up.</p><p>"Nah, I've got it, don't worry......" He mutters as he kneels down to open up Apollo's bench.</p><p>Ian thought putting the harness around Apollo would be easy, with the animal being asleep and all, but as always, he was wrong.</p><p>Apollo bolts out of the cage the second Ian's taken a step back. </p><p>"H-hey!" Ian watches in bewilderment as Apollo looks back to growl at him before jumping onto the couch. </p><p>Carl and Liam look completely unbothered and not surprised at all when Apollo climbs over them to escape Ian's flailing hands holding the harness.</p><p>"Little help here?" The ginger grunts when his younger brothers make no attempt to catch their pet.</p><p>"When it comes to walking Apollo, it's every man for himself." Liam dryly announces.</p><p>Ian sighs and rolls his eyes, then runs to the other side of the couch where Apollo's sitting. The raccoon rushes off again, this time hiding out in the small space behind the washing machine.</p><p>Ian can't get him there, but Apollo can't run off in any other direction either. </p><p>"C'mon, man, I know neither of us wants to do this, but it's for Mickey, okay?" Apollo stays right where the fuck he is and sniffs at Ian.</p><p>Jesus Christ. Ian sometimes wonders how the fuck someone like Mickey tolerates an animal like Apollo. Arrogant, annoying and constantly moving around........</p><p>"Get over here." Ian tries for a command, but that only makes Apollo back up just an inch further against the wall between him and the washing machine.</p><p>He's about to go fucking <em>feral, </em>Ian can't deal with this. </p><p>But then, God bless his questionable soul, Carl finally comes to his aid. He's got a treat in his hand that Mickey always feeds Apollo after he's been good or hasn't tried stealing Ian's food.</p><p>"Ay, 'pollo, come here......" Carl pushes Ian out of the way to wag the treat where Apollo can see it.</p><p>Apollo sniffles at it and steps closer, seemingly haven forgotten all about Ian and the harness. When half of his body is sticking out from his hiding spot, Carl takes his chance to pull Apollo into his arms while Ian struggles with the harness.</p><p>Apollo growls, Apollo bites and scratches, but finally, fucking <em>finally,</em> Ian manages to put the damn thing around the animal.</p><p>Carl hands him the leash with a grin as Apollo snatches the treat from between his fingers.</p><p>"Good luck. You'll need it."</p><p>"Thanks for the encouraging words....." Ian looks down with furrowed eyebrows to see that Apollo's already trying to get out of his equipment. </p><p>"Stop doin' that, we're just going for a walk." Apollo looks up at Ian, bares his teeth for good measure too.</p><p>Ian hopes he won't be dead by the end of the walk.</p><p>Five minutes later they're finally out the door, and Apollo's pulling on the leash pretty damn <em>hard.</em></p><p>Ian decides to follow the route that he takes when he goes out jogging on the weekends. It's a relatively peaceful path and Ian doubts there'll be any people out at this hour.</p><p>Apollo seems to be enjoying himself, pulling Ian towards random bushes and trees he decides to smell. Ian can somewhat see the slightest resemblance of a dog sometimes, except that dogs are friendlier, usually, and they bark. </p><p>Apollo doesn't bark, but he does <em>bite </em>when Ian tries pulling him back after he's begun chewing on a piece of plastic down the path.</p><p>"Ouch! Jesus!" Ian rubs at his throbbing hand. Apollo didn't fully clamp his teeth down but they did scrape painfully against Ian's skin.</p><p>Fucking raccoon. Ian can't believe he's putting up with this shit just to get laid. But it's <em>Mickey,</em> so he does it anyways.</p><p>When Apollo finally gets around to taking his nightly dump, he looks Ian right in the eye while he's doing it. Ian takes a big-ass step back because, yeah, <em>fuck </em>that.</p><p>The walk takes way longer than Ian would've liked, because Apollo keeps stopping in the middle of the path every now and then for no apparent reason.</p><p>"Can we go home now?" Ian grumbles at the raccoon when he stops once again right on the corner of their street.</p><p>Apollo looks right at him again, giving him a hollow, empty glare that never fails to send a shiver down Ian's spine. </p><p>Are raccoons supposed to be this scary? Jesus Christ, Ian's 24 and his occasional sleep paralysis demon or the sounds that used to come out of his and Lip's room when the latter brought home girls are <em>nothing </em>compared to Apollo's stare of death.</p><p>Scary motherfucker.</p><p>But they finally manage to get home, and Mickey is there. Ian's face immediately lights up when he spots his husband grunting something at Carl as he stirs the spoon into a pot that appears to be filled with spaghetti sauce.</p><p>"Oh, hey. How was your walk?" Mickey smiles as Ian takes off Apollo's harness.</p><p>"Shitty. Fucker kept stopping for no reason and looked right the fuck at me while he was takin' a dump......" Ian grumpily responds, watching Apollo rush towards Mickey.</p><p>"Yeah, he does that...... Fuckin' weird, right?" Mickey grins and pets Apollo's head while the raccoon licks at his partially sauce-covered hand.</p><p>"He scraped his teeth against my hand when I tried to prevent him from eating plastic......." Ian pouts down at the animal, who seems to play all innocent and cute once Mickey's in the picture.</p><p><em>"Bad </em>boy, Apollo......." Mickey scolds, giving a small tug on Apollo's round ear.</p><p>Apollo lets out an angry-sounding purr, which sounds more like a motor before he fucks off to somewhere else.</p><p>"Lemme see your hand." Mickey instructs, reaching out to his husband.</p><p>He grabs a hold of Ian's hand, then brings the reddish spot to his lips and kisses it. The gesture makes Ian's heart squeeze. He still can't get over how soft Mickey gets with Ian sometimes, how loving and gentle.</p><p>And Ian knows, he just <em>knows </em>Mickey's always had that in him, the ability to be gentle with another person, but it just makes him so happy that Mickey finally gets to do it whenever the fuck he wants now.</p><p>"Better?" Mickey asks.</p><p>"Y-yeah......" Ian's cheeks darken at the stutter in his voice. Fuck. Lip's right, he <em>is </em>a soft motherfucker. </p><p>"Good. So, uh, I asked Debbie to take over diner so we've got time to get started on round one......." Mickey's got a mischievous little smirk on his face, wrapping his arms around Ian's waist and looking up at him with hooded eyes.</p><p>"Sounds like a fuckin' plan!" Ian sighs contently in the kiss Mickey gives him, taking in his husband's warmth.</p><p>"Let's fuckin' go then." Mickey all but tugs Ian towards the stairs, Ian giddily follows.</p><p>As they pass by, Ian sees Apollo watching them from the couch.</p><p>He winks.</p><p>Ian winks back.</p><p>
  <em>Fucking weird.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Apollo's in the trash and Ian is fucking losing it. This has got to be the eighth time Ian's caught him swimming in the garbage can since they unfortunately decided to keep him.</p><p>The little fuck is never gonna stop, is he?</p><p>This time Ian can't go yelling up the stairs for Mickey to make his raccoon fuck off because it's 7:30 AM and Mickey needs sleep after he's been coming home exhausted all week.</p><p>There's a brand new make-up palette made by some YouTuber out in the mall's store, and as Mickey quotes teenage girls are <em>"A living nightmare, Ian. Fucking hell!"</em></p><p>So, yeah, Ian's not gonna wake him up for this one, but he'll be <em>damned </em>if he lets Apollo scatter pieces of trash all over the porch again.</p><p>"Get outta the trash, man, seriously......" Ian's about to go absolutely feral again when Apollo scrambles out of the can with a plastic bottle between his teeth.</p><p>Ian will <em>also </em>be damned if he lets Apollo choke to death on a piece of plastic.</p><p>"Apollo! Get back here!" Ian somewhat panics when Apollo dashes off. But thankfully he doesn't go out on the streets.</p><p>Rather, he turns the corner and hastily climbs over the fence leading to the Gallaghers' backyard. </p><p>"Ay!" Ian rushes after him, stumbling around in the flamingo-shaped slippers he promised Franny he'd wear after receiving them as a Christmas gift.</p><p>They're a fucking <em>disaster </em>to walk on, he'll tell you that.</p><p>When he gets into the back yard, Apollo is standing close to a fold-able chair Sandy dumped on the grass a few days ago. </p><p>He stands absolutely still, to a point it genuinely unnerves Ian. He's dropped the piece of plastic by now, staring at the chair as if something's-</p><p>"Oh." Ian halts too when he sees it.</p><p>There's a cat stuck between the chair, mewling sadly as it tries to wiggle itself free from the chair's fold-able grasp. Ian immediately kneels down to try and free the poor animal, but Apollo stalks closer and hisses at the cat.</p><p>"Back off, Apollo......" Ian frowns and pushes Apollo's face away when he gets too close to the trapped cat.</p><p>"Calm down, little guy..... I'll get you outta here....." Ian shushes the mewling animal, carefully unfolding the chair so it wouldn't hurt the cat anymore.</p><p>The thing is, though, Ian's never been very good with animals. Kids are more his forté, Mickey's the animal guy.</p><p>But Ian really has no fucking clue what he's done to make the cat suddenly hostile towards him. The second the skinny cat is freed from the chair, the hairs on it's back stand up and it's hissing at Ian, baring it's sharp teeth.</p><p>"Whoa......" Ian backs off a bit, but then the cat leaps at him.</p><p>
  <b>
    <em>*Scritch*</em>
  </b>
</p><p><em>"FUCK!"</em> Ian falls back and clutches a hand over the side of his ankle, where the cat just scratched him harshly.</p><p>Sure, it doesn't hurt <em>that </em>much, but it still burns like a motherfucker and makes a few droplets of blood come out from the wound.</p><p>Apollo jumps up and bares his own teeth, standing between Ian and the cat. Then he goes full fucking Super Saiyan, clawing at the cat and tumbling around with it. The cat gives it back everything it's got, but Apollo clearly has the upper hand with the wild way he's fighting. Ian kinda sees Mickey's fighting style in Apollo's.</p><p>Apollo lets out a scream-like sound and clamps his teeth down on the cat's ear, making it howl in pain. That's enough to make the cat run the fuck away. Ian watches it dash out of the yard, still panting and in shock of what just happened.</p><p>"Uh......" He sits there, eyebrows raised to his hairline as Apollo slowly struts towards him. </p><p>Apollo leans down to sniff at Ian's calf and then in a matter of seconds he's begun licking at the small wound.</p><p>Ian doesn't jerk his leg away but remains confused nonetheless. He's seen this shit in movies before, where the hero gets hurt and the dog or cat companion licks their wounds clean. Ian's never seen this kind of thing with raccoons before though, he's pretty sure Apollo just wants to taste his blood for the fun of it.</p><p>"T-thanks....." Ian stammers out, stiffly patting Apollo's tail. Apollo looks up at him and blinks once, then goes back to licking the wound.</p><p>Weirdo.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>+1</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Ian lies in bed, facing the wall and just staring. He doesn't even try going to sleep, knows that if he were to close his eyes all he could see is the kid, screaming and covered in blood.</p><p>He got released early from work today. Some poor boy, who couldn't have been older than 8, died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Car accident, a bus ran into his parents' car. </p><p>Ian remembers his voice very clearly. The kid was screaming about how he wanted to live, begging them to save, save, <em>save </em>him. Ian can't forget the look on his face, the tears spilling from the corners of his eyes.</p><p>And Ian knows, he <em>knows </em>it's part of the job, that shit like this happens sometimes. But he's never actually dealt with some poor child begging him to save his life, never thought about how hard it could be.</p><p>It's fucked him up, really. </p><p>Ian curls further into his blanket, puffing out a soft sigh at how heavy his eyes feel. His pillow is wet and his head is pounding. Ian just wants Mickey to get home, wants to hold him or be held. Mickey's always been his safety blanket, sort of, he makes him feel better.</p><p>He hears the door creak open, and very light footsteps on the floor. They don't really sound like footsteps, though, more like a soft ticking against the wood.</p><p>Ian hears a dull thud on the other side of the bed and waits, holding his breath. A few seconds pass, but then there's suddenly something soft crawling up beside him. He turns his head slightly and Apollo's snout is pressed right against his cheek.</p><p>"......hey." Ian quietly greets.</p><p>Apollo doesn't reply, obviously, but does throw his tail around Ian's neck and cuddles up close to his side. The act takes Ian off guard, especially with Apollo's apparent dislike for him. For once, Ian decides not to question it, pulling Apollo against him and burying his nose in Apollo's fur. </p><p>The door creaks again. Mickey stands in the doorway, still dressed in those ridicilous khaki pants and that pink pollo. Ian watches him, says nothing. Mickey's eyes are soft and filled with an emotion Ian can't quite place.</p><p>"Skipped work." Mickey simply informs him.</p><p>Ian exhales through his nose, wanting to scold Mickey and tell him off for skipping work. But it's like all the energy's been drained from him and he certainly doesn't want to push Mickey off when his husband moves to lie next to him. Mickey gently strokes the side of Ian's face, then presses a kiss to his temple.</p><p>
  <em>Soft, soft, soft......</em>
</p><p> </p><p>An hour later Mickey is lying practically on top of Ian, face nuzzled against the side of Ian's neck while Ian has one hand on his ass and one on his lower back. Apollo is curled up above his head, chin rested on Ian's forehead. </p><p>He feels better.</p>
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